Clem Leek – Lifenotes

The album cover image may suggest this is another piano-based album. Not true, although the piano plays an important role.

The first two tracks on his new album Lifenotes clearly demonstrate that Clem Leek is a multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, as well as violin, guitar and various other instruments. 
Along the album, the main instruments vary but the atmosphere remains effectively restrained.  

“This CD was all about getting back to basics and recording pieces that were simple, which happens to be my best way of writing.”

Nils Frahm – Felt

Although just under 30, self-taught pianist Nils Frahm has gained world-wide recognition for his delicate, yet fascinatingly dynamic, improvisational style of playing. He’s not afraid of starting with a brusque hammering of the piano keyboard and keeping that up for quite some time, until suddenly the underlying composition starts to show and may suddenly turn into an utterly moving, melancholic composition.

By recording his playing from the inside, the squeaking and groaning of the piano mechanism accompanying the bright piano notes has become one of his trademarks. 

“Felt“,  his latest release, is perfectly in line with its predecessors Wintermusik andThe Bells, but it’s balance is even more mature.

Dakota Suite+Quentin Sirjacq – The Side of her Inexhaustible Heart


Inexhaustible Heart Cover

In the impressive back catologue of Chris Hooson‘s Dakota Suite, a few constant factors can be recognized: his continuing personal struggle with his intense depressions, his dedicated love for his wife Johanna who supports him through his most difficult periods – and the extremely personal quality of his music. 

Recent Dakota Suite albums were mainly instrumental, but this new double album “The Side of her Inexhausible Heart” finds a perfect balance between instumental, ‘post-classical’ tracks and the characteristic Chris Hooson vocals known from the earlier Dakota Suite albums: intimate – sometimes even up to almost painfully intimate.

Yann Novak; Antonymes + Slow Dancing Society; Pascal Savy; Mental Corridors; Broken Harbour

In the Shortlist sections, I will mention some of the albums that I enjoyed listening to, but couldn’t find the time (or the right words) for a “full” review for. Still, I think they deserve your attention: use the links to find more info and hear previews.

Presence

Yann Novak – Presence
“The original sound performance for Presence used a mixture of recordings taken with a cell phone of sounds that altered ones perception.  These recordings were then digitally enhanced there unique characteristics. Through the use of digitally enhanced recordings, all chosen for there ability to altered ones perception, Presence moves smoothly through the a number of emotional and physical states. Evenly paced passages drift slowly from one into another, beginning in dissonance and slowly shifting into complimentary over the duration of the piece.”

Antonymes + Slow Dancing Society

Antonymes – We don’t look back for very long
“On his new EP We Don’t Look Back For Very Long, Antonymes has reworked a track from each of fellow Hidden Shoal artist Slow Dancing Society’s four albums,casting radiant new light on the stunning originals. Across almost 30 minutes, Antonymes marries SDS’s glistening atmospheres to his own trademark ambient neo-classical minimalism, creating a completely mesmerizing hybrid”

Christina Vantzou – No.1

This is a great time for those that like the instrumental orchestral music of the Stars of the Lid school. 

Fairly short after A Winged Victory for the Sullen (Adam Wiltzie + Dustin O’Halloran), Kranky releases another beautiful album: Christina Vantzou‘s “No. 1” .

Christina Vantzou‘s name may not immediately sound familiar.

With Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie she has released the The Dead Texan album (2004) – which quickly became a favourite for Stars of the Lid fans. She has also toured with Sparklehorse shortly. 

Apart from composing and performing music, she’s also a prolific visual artist. (In fact she also designed the ‘Nips and Lips’ cover for A Winged Victory).
A lot of the beautiful videos she created for related artists and friends can be enjoyed on her Youtube channel.

Penjaga Insaf – Sama Sadja

The opening track of ‘SAMA SADJA‘ , ‘Seimbang’, slowly unfolds reminiscent of a vintage Klaus Schulze track, but the similarity does not last for long. The album takes an unexpected turn, delving deep into Indonesian traditional culture, with fascinating and hypnotizing musical result.

It’s definitely no ‘roots music’ from Indonesia. But it’s not your average ambient drone, either!

A Winged Victory for the Sullen

“A Winged Victory for the Sullen”, “Sleep Hills of Vicodin Tears”, “Requiem for the Static King” … If titles like that remind you of the Stars of the Lid, you are right. Almost. 

For this project, Lid’s Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie teams up with Dustin O’Halloran. No real surprise, since they already worked together on O’Halloran’s latest album (“Lumiere” ). 
 
With the help of some familiar (Peter Broderick, Hildur Gudnadottir) and some less familiar contributors the duo presents “A Winged Victory for the Sullen“ – which will obviously appeal to all Stars of the Lid fans. And a lot more people that probably don’t know this album even exists.

Guy Birkin – Symmetry-Breaking

There are many different ways to create (and enjoy) ambient/electronic music.
On “Symmetry-Breaking”  (Dr.!) Guy Birkin has an academic approach, bringing him and his music somewhat in line with that of music on the raster-noton label. 

In his work for the Nottingham Trent University (UK), Birkin investigates ‘complexity as an aesthetic property, using information theory as an approach to understanding the complexity of artworks’
For his doctoral thesis he studied ‘visual complexity’, but his current research uses his experimental method to explore the complexity of sound and music. 

The question is, of course: does an academic approach like this also produce academic (as in ‘difficult’) music?
After studying the liner notes and trying to get a grasp of the underlying theories and creation techniques, I was almost relieved to conclude that the answer to that is “No, not necessarily.”

Jacob Kirkegaard – Aion (DVD)

“Aion” is the DVD companion to Kirkegaard’s CD release “Four Rooms” (Touch, 2006).
Inspired by Alvin Lucier’s “I am sitting in a Room” , Kirkegaard recorded the sound of deserted rooms: a church, an auditorium, a swimming pool and a gymnasium.

He then re-recorded the sound played back in the same room over and over again, multiple times, until the sound of the room became a constant drone, ultimately revealing what may be the “soul” of the room. 

That is, of course, a fascinating concept in itself. But there’s another dimension to this project.